Fox News host Shannon Bream confronted U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to take a "victory lap" because the Kremlin believes President Donald Trump "abandoned Ukraine.

Hegseth also said Wednesday that Ukraine returning to its prewar borders—before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014—would be “unrealistic,” effectively forcing Ukraine to cede territory to Russia in another striking reversal of the U.S. and NATO’s previous position regarding the former Soviet territory.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday brushed off European complaints that President Trump’s surprise one-on-one talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin amounted to a betrayal of Ukraine and stood by his comments a day earlier that it was unrealistic for Kyiv to expect a peace deal to return all the land it had lost since Russia invaded nearly three years ago.

Following a weekend of Donald Trump administration officials taking extreme measures to avoid saying Russia is to blame for the war in Ukraine, the panel on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" took aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for mealy-mouthed side-stepping of the issue during an appearance on Fox News.

Two percent is a start, as President Trump has said, but it’s not enough, nor is 3%, nor is 4% — more like 5%,” the defense secretary said in a speech in Brussels.

In all, it was a bruising, 72-hour crash course in the geopolitical realities of a job that critics complain Mr. Hegseth, a 44-year-old former National Guard infantryman and Fox News host, is unqualified to hold. Mr. Hegseth’s trip to Europe, his first overseas visit since being sworn in on Jan. 25, started off on an unusual note.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth rejected the premise ... would like them to be in 2014 is not a concession to Vladimir Putin,” Hegseth added. “It’s a recognition of hard power realities ...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday responded to global blowback to his comments this week that Ukraine should not expect to join NATO or return to it’s pre-2014 borders as President

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) on Wednesday said President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are negotiating on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and argued the commander in chief has ...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday pulled back some ... hours after President Donald Trump and Russian Vladimir Putin spoke by phone about a potential peace deal. Hegseth’s initial ...

US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, said Thursday that acknowledging Ukraine's borders would not go back to what they were in 2014 was "not a concession" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but was a "recognition of the hard power realities on the ground".

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the war between Ukraine and Russia “must end,” that Kyiv joining NATO is unrealistic, and that the US will no longer prioritize European and Ukrainian security as the Trump administration shifts its attention to securing the US’ own borders and deterring war with China.